Finding Joanne & Maureen
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and eighty-one: They were just casting two more to their 'Rent' project, and Rachel didn't see this coming.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 27th cycle. Now cycle 28!_

_**A/N:** Okay, so at the moment I'm slowly starting to plot out the next maybe three or so cycles, which is at least 63 new stories, and before I do this I wanted to ask you guys if you had anything you'd wish to see written, suggestions... Also, what would really help, if you have ideas for concepts for sets (like I've done the alphabet (twice), colors, sins and virtues, episode titles, etc), let me hear 'em! (via private message, if possible!) Thanks :) - **UPDATE! I'm going to be planning the next five cycles, which will take me through to September. So if you have ideas/wishes/anything, now is the time to speak up! :)**_

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><p><strong>"Finding Joanne and Maureen"<br>Rachel/Puck, New Directions  
>Project No Day But Today #3 (Sequel to "Finding Mark &amp; Benny") <strong>

A few days had gone by since they had cast the third and fourth roles, and by some miracle no one had blurted a thing. It was all still contained among the four of them. And so Rachel invited Puck over once more, in order to put two more roles into consideration. Puck arrived second this time, and when Rachel let him into the living room, he could only guess, judging by the fact she had pictures of the rest of the New Directions girls laid out on the table, which roles they were aiming to fill on that day.

"So Joanne and Maureen then," he sat on the couch.

"Yes," she confirmed, then, "Part of me wants to take this one way, and then I wonder if I should go this other way… Who knew casting could be so hard…" she frowned at the pictures.

"It's not hard," he shook his head, and maybe his smirk showed in his words, because she looked at him. "You care for them, don't want to let them down. I never saw that before." She sighed.

"So what do I do?" she asked, honest.

"Well there's other girls in this," he started, but she was shaking her head.

"Trust me, in this case that's not what they'll hear. All they'll hear is 'go stand in the back.' And that is just… that's bad," she looked like she'd shuddered at the thought of it.

"So double everyone up then. Isn't that what you all did for Rocky Horror? Six girls, three roles… double up. Then have auditions or something for the rest." She nodded to herself, looking at the pictures. She'd thought about it, of course she had, but she didn't make up her mind, not until then. She knew this meant all of them girls having to share their star with someone else, but it was better than the alternative, and this they could get.

"What about the guys though?" she realized.

"We'll worry about that next time. What does your gut tell you for now?" he asked, sitting back on the couch. She remained hunched over the photos, staring. She'd been auditioning them in her head since she'd laid out the pictures, waiting for him to arrive. She tried to think of who these girls were, and who the characters were, and what they'd have to present… If she had to choose primaries, for both of them, her eyes tended to gravitate to the left. Deciding to just go for it, she reached out and pressed one finger on both pictures to drag them to the side, and she looked back to Puck. He sat up and looked. It still amused her to no end, seeing him actually dedicated to this the way he was. She could see his mind probably doing some of the same things she'd just done herself.

"Okay, so… Joanne," he tapped one picture, "and Maureen?" he tapped the other. Rachel confirmed. He looked at them for a moment more, then he got up and took the pictures to the board. She wouldn't say it, but she had a feeling he liked putting the pictures up. "How do you want to split this?"

The next day at school, Rachel went out seeking her Maureen. She found her at her locker, scribbling madly in a notebook, a manoeuvre they'd seen several times… trying to finish her homework before class. So she ended up waiting until before second period. She caught her coming out of her class, right across the hall from where Rachel came from another class. "Hey, Brittany, can we talk?"

"What did I do?" she asked, trailing off as Rachel followed.

"Nothing. I actually wanted to ask you something, but you have to keep it a secret." Brittany stopped and turned to look at her.

"I'm listening."

"I…" Rachel laughed nervously, then signalled for Brittany to follow her into the class she had just left. "Before I start, you have to promise you won't say a word." She nodded. "Okay, so we're doing our own production of Rent. We're not telling Mr. Schuester yet. And you… We would like to offer you the part of Maureen," she smiled. Brittany stood there, silently looking back at her, and for a moment Rachel wondered if she'd just taken her instructions not to say a word too seriously, but then…

"Okay," she nodded.

"Yes?" Rachel asked, to be sure, and Brittany nodded again. Rachel grinned and held out her hand, which Brittany took and shook after a beat.

"Wait, but… What about Santana? Can I tell her?"

"Well, by the end of the day she should know, so… Yes." Brittany smiled.

Puck had more or less figured it by himself that he would be the one approaching Santana about this. With the kind of history they shared, he figured he was looking at a fair amount of talk before she would even let him lay out the information to her. She hadn't even seen him when she first spoke. But he'd get right to the point.

"What, no crawling?" she asked, spinning the dial on her locker before opening the door.

"I need to ask you something," he started, figuring the words 'Rachel sent me' wouldn't have gotten him through this any faster. "For Glee Club," he added before she could go on like she was about to.

Rachel hadn't heard back from Puck yet, and she started to wonder if Santana had needed more convincing than she'd thought, or what that convincing would entail… But then he came up walking to her. She looked around briefly to make sure no one was around. "So?" she asked.

"She's in," he revealed, and she breathed. "She muttered something in Spanish when I told her you were directing… I should start paying attention to Schue in class," he spoke to himself.

"But she won't say, right?" He shook his head. "Okay. Well, Brittany's in, too. What about the rest of the girls?" she asked, but he shook his head. "Right, after the last two are taken care of," she nodded, reminding herself of what they'd agreed on. "And you're still… I mean..."

"It'll be great. Blow them right out of the water," he told her, and she smiled… Yes, he was still in it.

He smiled back at her, and she felt something… It was just a moment, but it felt like… No matter what had happened since then, nothing had ever come close to their brief time together, the previous year. Maybe she'd deluded herself into thinking it meant nothing, that she'd seen it wrong, because her eyes had gone somewhere else, but now she didn't know… Because her heart had skipped a beat… But she just smiled, didn't betray her emotions in the least… She couldn't put their present success on the line, could she?

"Are you okay?" he asked her. "You've got that look like I do when I'm in class and I'm not paying attention," he pointed out, and she blinked.

"That's not… I'm fine," she gave him a nod and a smile. "I-I have to go… I'll let you know for the next casting, right?" she told him before heading off. She didn't look back… oh, but she wanted to.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>**********always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**********


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